“We got a deal on an old truck and Bright Ideas [Brewing] on the MASS MoCA campus invited us to partner with them,” recalls Justin. “We parked the truck there, plugged in an amp that MoCA had, and never looked back.” —Justin Forstman
When Chingón Taco Truck made its debut at MASS MoCA three years ago, owners Justin and Mariah Forstmann were hopping on the pandemic-fueled “takeout only” model of food service. The couple, both Connecticut natives, had just moved back east from Portland, OR, where Justin was a chef and Mariah was front-of-the-house manager at a popular Mexican restaurant. Their dream was to open their own restaurant, but a food truck seemed like a good interim step.
“We got a deal on an old truck and Bright Ideas [Brewing] on the MASS MoCA campus invited us to partner with them,” recalls Justin. “We parked the truck there, plugged in an amp that MoCA had, and never looked back.”
Justin and Mariah expanded their reach by serving their fare at weddings, festivals, catering gigs, and pop-up events at venues such as Cantina 229 in New Marlborough. And Tourist Hotel in North Adams often brought them in to do food service on holiday weekends. Did they sleep? Not much.
Last year, they looked into taking over the A-OK Berkshire Barbeque space at MoCA but were not able to secure the lease. So, the folks at MoCA gave them a gentle push to think bigger: a larger space was available, in the museum’s Building 11 next to Tunnel City Coffee. It was time for Justin and Mariah’s restaurant dreams to come true. Tapping their savings from the previous three summers, they signed a fiveyear lease and, at this writing, were “beyond excited” at the prospect of a soft opening in the beginning of June.
The vision for their new restaurant, Casita, is “Mexico meets North Adams.” Chef Justin will take the techniques he learned cooking Mexican food for more than 10 years and give them a local spin. “We really want to keep everything as local as possible,” he says. “We have a beautiful bounty here and wonderful stewards of the land and we want to support them so they can continue doing what they love.” Casita will have a dining room, lounge, patio, and a walk-up taqueria window facing the MoCA courtyard.
“One of our main struggles,” says Mariah, “has been finding ingredients.” So, they’re partnering with Williamstown farmer and chef Tu Le of 328 North Farms, who will grow cilantro, chilies, poblanos, and tomatillos for them. And to ensure minimal food waste, they’ll also work with Second Chance Composting, a community-based compost operation in Adams.
“We’re just tying up loose ends on the renovations and then we’re pretty much ready to go,” says Justin.
Casita
1111 MASS MoCA Way
North Adams
Su & M noon–4pm, Thu–Sa noon–4pm & 5–9pm
casitaberkshires.com
